The carriage fell into silence.
“And?” Pei Shaohuai asked.
“Pei Jishizhong, based on observation alone, you were able to guess that the Zhenhai Guard affair was connected to the Shangshu Mansion. Now that you’ve heard one more thing, I imagine you can guess the rest of the truth.” Yan Chengzhao smiled in his rare way, laced with a hint of mockery, then used the scabbard of his embroidered spring blade to lift the carriage curtain and leaped down with ease, leaving the carriage.
He left Pei Shaohuai alone in the carriage to continue “guessing.”
Pei Shaohuai could only blame himself for speaking too quickly just now — otherwise, he might have gleaned more “intelligence reports” from Yan Chengzhao’s mouth.
He had hoped to settle his thoughts, for today had already been eventful enough. But after hearing Yan Chengzhao’s remark, Pei Shaohuai could only rub his temples and, accompanied by the rumbling of carriage wheels, sink into deep contemplation.
The Fish-Scale Register was a ledger used for collecting taxes and recording land ownership. It contained rough sketches of mountains, roads, and place names, then depicted each plot of land in succession — noting to whom the land belonged, the fertility of the soil, and the size of the parcel. Because the plots were drawn side by side in an uneven, overlapping pattern resembling fish scales, it came to be called the “Fish-Scale Register.”
Compiling such registers was no easy task. Two copies were made: one was submitted to the imperial court and kept by the Ministry of Finance, known as the master register; the other remained at county and prefectural offices throughout the land, used each year to collect taxes according to the records.
To make it easier for the Emperor to survey the realm, the Ministry of Finance would also calculate the total land across Da Qing’s various regions and draw a comprehensive map organized by the four cardinal directions.
The Fish-Scale Register was the foundation of taxation and the bedrock of the state treasury. To tamper with it was to strike at the nation’s very roots — a grievous crime. Were the Emperor to investigate in earnest, Shangshu Pei could not merely expect to lose his position; it would not be considered excessive to execute the entire family.
Yan Chengzhao was the Emperor’s loyal personal guard. Whatever intelligence the Southern Pacification Bureau uncovered, Yan Chengzhao would not conceal it, and naturally the Emperor would be aware. Pei Shaohuai even suspected that Yan Chengzhao’s sudden disclosure of this matter today might well have been the Emperor’s own decree.
Was it not a common tool of imperial authority — to selectively allow certain ministers to know certain intelligence?
Pei Shaohuai’s cousin Pei Bingsheng was the most direct offender, yet he had merely taken ill and remained at home without being formally punished. And Pei Jue, as his father, still held his seat as Minister of Personnel without disruption. This pointed to at least two things.
First, the Emperor still wished to make use of Pei Jue — or at least had not yet found a suitable replacement. To rashly dismiss Pei Jue would mean losing not just a minister but also the delicate balance of factional power within the court.
Second, Pei Bingsheng’s offense was not of a fundamental nature — a crime that could be made large or small, entirely at the Emperor’s word. What constituted a fundamental offense? Treason. The Shangshu Mansion harbored no treasonous intent; Pei Bingsheng had most likely been deceived and lured onto a pirate’s vessel, which revealed that this uncle of his was neither cautious nor clever.
And so, Pei Jue retained some room to restore imperial favor — which also explained why Pei Jue was so eager to forge himself into a blade in the Emperor’s hand. As long as he remained useful, and the Emperor retained some measure of old affection, the Shangshu Pei household might yet survive.
These things Pei Shaohuai had already pieced together in his mind. Now, pushing his thoughts one layer deeper, a realization dawned on him — Pei Jue’s promotion of the “silver in lieu of taxes” reform had been entirely deliberate.
No wonder Pei Jue had remained unmoved and composed when the reform was rejected, his expression placid. From the very beginning, what he truly cared about was only rectifying corrupt officials and re-surveying the land.
Had Pei Jue proposed only the rectification of officials and the recreation of land registers from the start, the factions opposed to him would certainly have pushed back and obstructed him. With too much controversy, implementation would be delayed for a long time. The longer it dragged on, the easier it would become for other officials to discover his son’s crimes — and by then it would be too late to remedy. Pei Jue had to act with swift decisiveness.
So he added the clause of “silver in lieu of taxes” as a smokescreen — the officials were all too busy attacking that measure to notice Pei Jue’s true objective.
What a brilliant feint — a strike to the east to hit the west. Pei Shaohuai inwardly mocked himself with a rueful smile: he hadn’t expected that his “first lesson” upon entering the court would be taught by Pei Jue himself.
He had been “tricked” into proposing the policy of unified coinage.
Fortunately, each of them had gotten what they wanted.
As for the deeper intelligence behind the Zhenhai Guard affair, Pei Shaohuai did not know enough to speculate. Perhaps some feudal prince had harbored ambitions he ought not to have, and the Emperor, though aware, was in no hurry to act — the Emperor was at the age when he calculated gains and losses with the greatest care.
Lost in thought throughout the journey, it was only when the carriage came to a stop with a long “whoa—” that Pei Shaohuai drew his mind back.
The Earl’s Mansion did not have a family dinner that evening. Pei Shaohuai dined alone in his own courtyard.
Yang Shiyue had prepared a pot of red date and snow fungus soup for him — smooth, nourishing, and refreshing. She said, “Father returned to the mansion early today and sent someone with a message, asking me to prepare a throat-soothing soup for you.”
“Father-in-law is thoughtful,” Pei Shaohuai said. “Shiyue, you’ve also worked hard.”
“It is you who have worked hard.”
Though Yang Shiyue did not know what had transpired at court, the fact that her father had specifically sent someone with a message — and in such warm praise — made her sense that her husband had accomplished something upright and significant, something even her father took pride in.
After Pei Shaohuai finished the snow fungus soup, the other dishes were brought to the table, and husband and wife dined together.
……
……
At another Pei household, however, the atmosphere was far less pleasant. Though Pei Jue had secured the assignment and achieved his aim, the mansion remained shrouded in gloom.
Around the large round table, the family gathered for dinner. Only the sounds of eating could be heard; they sat in silence with nothing to say to one another — not out of propriety, but because none of them knew what to say.
Pei Bingsheng had been tormented for nearly a year. Though he claimed to be feigning illness at home, he had by now become as good as truly ill. The constant worry over his future and his life, over dragging the entire family into ruin — that unrelenting anxiety was more wearing than the sudden onset of a severe cold.
Pei Bingsheng knew his father had proposed the new reform today and wanted to ask how the great court debate had ended. He opened his mouth, then stopped — his father’s expression was dark, and he did not dare ask.
Pei Jue spoke first. He set down his chopsticks and said, “You will accompany me into the palace tomorrow.”
Pei Bingsheng’s eyes lit up. Finally, he would no longer need to feign illness and could return to the Ministry of Finance.
But then he heard his father continue, “You will petition the Emperor yourself to be sent to the various regions to survey the land.”
“This time, as I lead the survey team, I will certainly make amends for my wrongdoings.” Pei Bingsheng said with vigor and a grateful air toward his father.
“Lead the survey team?” Pei Jue’s tone turned cold. He fixed his son with a stare as the fury he had suppressed finally erupted. “If we were to go by the law, you should be drinking your fill of the netherworld’s brew by now — and yet you still have the nerve to think about official positions and leading teams.”
Pei Bingsheng did not dare breathe a word.
Pei Jue continued, “I am telling you to go personally into the fields to measure the land — not to lead any team. This time, you will not come back until you are burned brown and gaunt from the wind and sun. Perhaps that will earn you one or two shreds of the Emperor’s pity, and then your head might still be your own. Have I made myself clear enough? Do you understand?”
That final question drained the light from Pei Bingsheng’s eyes almost entirely.
Pei Bingsheng asked, “Which province will this son go to?”
“Suzhou Prefecture in the Southern Metropolitan Region.”
At the mention of that place — and the people there — it would be impossible to avoid Pei Bingyuan once he arrived in Suzhou. Pei Bingsheng clearly had no wish to lose face before his cousin, having been accustomed to superiority over him all these years. But he dared not contradict his father today, so he said nothing.
“Now you care about your dignity?” Pei Jue saw through his son’s thoughts and said, “When you were ‘cultivating ties in all directions’ earlier, why did you not spare a thought for such things? Could you not have at least consulted me before you acted?”
He continued, “I worked so painstakingly to arrange your placement in the Ministry of Finance and tasked you with keeping close watch on the minting affairs — but you did not listen. Instead, you were deceived and manipulated into tampering with what should never have been touched. Tell me — is this what you call honoring my efforts?”
Pei Jue had intended to keep all of this bottled inside, never to say it aloud. But when he thought of how his son had squandered the good post handed right to him, while a grandchild from the first branch of the Earl’s Mansion — one who had only just entered the court — was already moving with careful, measured steps…
The anger rose in Pei Jue all at once, and the words poured out of him whether he willed them or not.
The Second Elder Madam wiped her tears beside him and said, “Bingsheng already knows his mistake — why do you still say these things that cut straight to the heart?”
“A doting mother ruins a son!”
The Second Elder Madam was full of grievance herself. The veins on her neck stood out as she turned on Pei Jue, “Thirty years ago, when you were posted in Chengdu, you were never home — yet I never heard you say that a doting mother ruins her sons. If I had not raised them to strive and compete, and urged them to study hard, how would the family have continued?”
Pei Jue was left without a word to say.
And so everyone fell silent, and the quarrel came to an end.
After dinner, Pei Jue sat in the stone pavilion, lost in thought over something unknown.
His youngest grandson, Pei Shaowen, came with an essay in hand to ask for his grandfather’s comments.
Pei Jue gave it only a brief glance and replied, “Fresh and original perspective — great improvement.” His mind was clearly elsewhere.
Pei Shaowen’s mind was not on the essay either. After placing sixth in the provincial examinations, he had not gone on to sit for the spring examinations — not because he did not want to, but because his grandfather had not permitted him.
Pei Shaowen stammered and finally asked, “Grandfather, if the matter with Uncle is properly resolved, may this grandson sit for the spring examinations the year after next?”
He had only just managed to step out from under the shadow of the two brothers, Shaohuai and Shaojin, only to run straight into his uncle’s disaster.
Pei Jue set down the essay and replied with a heavy sigh, “Wenwen, it has nothing to do with the depth of your learning. If you were to sit for the examination, there is every chance you would not be selected… and yet do you still wish to try?”
Pei Bingsheng had committed an offense — would the Emperor allow anyone from the Shangshu household to serve as an official? Even without the crime being made public?
Pei Shaowen had not expected such an answer. He had hoped to prove himself in the spring examinations…
A gust of wind swept through, scattering the essay from the stone table into the pond below. Pei Shaowen did not even bother to retrieve it.
It was as though, in an instant, it no longer mattered whether an essay was well-written or not.
“So wait a little longer, Shaowen — wait two more years, until the new Fish-Scale Registers are completed. By then, things may well look quite different.” Pei Jue offered these words of comfort.
“This grandson understands.”
Pei Shaowen wandered back to his study as though he had lost his soul, locked himself in his room.
……
……
Half a month later, built upon the old workshop district in the western part of the capital, the Ministry of War had finished converting the Baoquan Bureau. A black-background plaque had been newly hung above the entrance.
The interior was modest in its furnishings, but the smelting equipment was complete. It was guarded by heavy troops with strict security.
The Ministry of War regularly forged weapons and was never short of skilled craftsmen. Those reassigned to mint coins were each exceptional in their trade.
Only by successfully producing the first batch of silver coins and receiving the Emperor’s approval of their appearance could large-scale minting begin.
And so this Baoquan Bureau was merely temporary. The true Baoquan Bureau would certainly be larger, with far more craftsmen.
When Minister Zhang and Pei Shaohuai arrived, the artisans had already laid a few newly minted silver coins on the table for the officials to inspect.
The craftsmen had used the method of pouring molten silver into molds. Even after careful polishing, the lettering and patterns on the coins were somewhat rough and not particularly sharp.
Moreover, the coins’ design was plain — beyond the reign-era characters, there were no other patterns.
It was clear that the craftsmen still thought of silver coins as copper cash — only substituting silver for copper.
“Your Excellency, these silver ingots all contain ninety-five percent silver. Please inspect them,” the chief craftsman said.
Pei Shaohuai glanced at one and set it back down. Minister Zhang asked, “Does Young Pei think the silver quality is insufficient?”
Pei Shaohuai shook his head and said, “You misunderstand, Mentor. I only feel that the silver discs are too plain — they are not yet sufficient to prevent counterfeiting. Perhaps we could make them more refined.”